Gunshot homicide (again) rocks Lents residents

Week 59 Shooting Report | Again, East Portland News must report on gunshots here; this week, a man was murdered by gunfire in outer East Portland …

At the scene of the most recent murder committed by someone with a gun, officers close off NE 92nd Avenue, just north of Holgate Boulevard.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

While fans were taking in the baseball game at Walker Stadium in Lents Park on the evening of August 20, a few hundred feet away a man was shot to death in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven store, after a brief scuffle with other store patrons.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched that evening at 9:46 p.m. to the convenience store on SE 92nd Avenue at Holgate Boulevard.

Near the door of the 7-Eleven store, an officer radios information to a PPB Homicide Division detective, who is also at the location.

“Officers found a victim with critical injuries; the man was taken to a local hospital by ambulance, and his injuries are believed to be life threatening,” a PPB official said that evening.

The next day, it was revealed that 30-year-old Jonathon “Johnny” Polanco had died from the gunshot injuries.

Official say this man, Jonathon “Johnny” Polanco, died of wounds after being shot in the head by a yet-unknown assailant. Family provided image via ppb

According to family members who spoke with reporters, Polanco and his girlfriend were purchasing snacks when two females accosted her as they left the store. When Polanco intervened in the parking lot, some man shot him in the head.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy and determined that Polanco died from a gunshot wound, and ruled his death a homicide, making his the 60th murder in Portland, this year.

At the edge of the crime scene, detectives talk with witnesses to this murder.

“PPB Homicide Detectives are aware of a video circulating on social media that shows the murder of Polanco, and are seeking tips regarding the identity of the people in the video, as well as the person who recorded the video,” a police official said.

Refer to Case No. 21-231670 when you contact Detective Jennifer Hertzler at Jennifer.Hertzler@portlandoregon.gov | 503-823-1040 or Detective Joseph Corona at Joseph.Corona@portlandoregon.gov | 503-823-0508 with information.

And oh, by the way, there were 42 different “Shots Fired” calls in outer East Portland in the last week.

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